About Primary Sources
Primary sources are newspaper articles, diaries, treaties, interviews, photographs, and other materials that were created during the time period of study. Because primary sources vary in type, there are many ways to locate these sources. Look through the different boxes on this page to find great links to primary sources. Keep in mind that many different types of materials count as primary sources -- music, art, even advertisements.
Using Catalogs
You can use our online catalog, WorldCat Discovery, to find primary sources. Here are some tips for effective searches:
- Use subject searches, and combine your topic with other subject headings such as Correspondence, Diaries, Interviews, or Personal narratives. This will restrict the search to first-hand accounts.
- Searching for a person as an author is another way to locate primary materials.
- Try limiting a search by date range to get materials published in those years.
Documents, Papers, Publications, Etc.
- The National Archives CatalogThe Archival Research Catalog (ARC) is the online catalog of NARA's nationwide holdings. About 60% of the collection is searchable through the catalog.
- WorldCat DiscoveryWorldCat can be an excellent place to find primary sources such as published collections of letters and oral histories. For most resources, you will need to use interlibrary loan.
Digital Collections
Poster for the World's Fair, 1937
As our list below shows, excellent digital collections are available online. While this page cannot include even a fraction of what's available, here are some tips for finding online collections:
- Check out the web sites of university and college libraries. If you are looking for regional materials, start with schools in that area.
- Visit web sites of related museums and historical sites.
- World's Transportation CommissionThe World's Transportation Commission Photograph Collection contains nearly nine hundred images by American photographer William Henry Jackson. In addition to railroads, elephants, camels, horses, sleds and sleighs, sedan chairs, rickshaws, and other types of transportation, Jackson photographed city views, street and harbor scenes, landscapes, local inhabitants, and Commission members as they traveled through North Africa, Asia, Australia, and Oceania.
- British History OnlineBritish History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles.
- The British LibraryClick on Collections, then any of the options under Digital Collections, to see what's available at the British Library online.
- Medieval Manuscripts on the WebQuick access to various digitization projects with listings alphabetical by country, city, and originating institution.
- Epistolae: Medieval Women's LettersEpistolæ is a collection of letters to and from women in the Middle Ages, from the 4th to the 13th century. The letters, written in Latin, are linked to the names of the women involved, with English translations and, where available, biographical sketches of the women and some description of the subject matter or the historic context of the letter.
- League of Nations Statistical and Disarmament DocumentsThis collection contains the full text of 260 League of Nations documents. The documents in this digitized collection focus on three areas: the founding of the League, international statistics published by the League, and the League's work toward international disarmament.
- Museum of Jewish HeritageThe Museum features artifacts related to Jewish history and modern Jewish life. The materials displayed online are highlights from our collection of nearly 25,000 objects.
- New York Public Library Digital CollectionsThe collection includes audio, video, webcasts, prints, photographs, text, and more.
- World Digital LibraryIncludes primary materials from around the world.
- World’s Fairs and the Landscapes of the Modern MetropolisYale Library's World’s Fair collection includes posters, photographs, pamphlets, commemorative books, maps, government reports, and a rich array of colorful vintage ephemera covering a century of world expositions.